Albéniz by Laura Lootens

Isaac Albéniz

Laura Lootens

Albéniz

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: CAvi
UPC: 4260085535385
Catnr: AVI 8553538
Release date: 15 September 2023
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1 CD ✓ in stock	€ 19.95	Buy

Label
CAvi

UPC
4260085535385

Catalogue number
AVI 8553538

Release date
15 September 2023

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

DEBÜT CD LAURA LOOTENS, guitar
ALBÉNIZ

Who can avoid thinking of flamenco, bolero, paso doble, and guitars when they hear the term “Spanish music”?

Born in 1860, Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz was mainly a pianist and wrote primarily for the piano. More than any other musician, he succeeded in incorporating the Spanish guitar idiom and folklore into his style. Thus, for instance, his works contain allusions to rasgueado, a guitar technique that strums all six strings percussively in rapid succession, as we often hear in flamenco.

Thus it is no wonder that many of Albéniz’s piano works have also been performed on the guitar: particularly Asturias (from the Suite Española), a piece that has become a staple in practically every guitarist’s repertoire. But things are different when we come to Albéniz’s Iberia, a suite of piano pieces so complex that few solo guitarists have ever attempted to transcribe and perform them (although a few guitar ensembles have managed to accomplish the feat).

Once I fell in love with guitar playing, I could not avoid becoming familiar with the music of Spain, which drew me immediately under its spell, thanks to its fiery character, grace, and astoundingly gorgeous melodies coupled with vibrant rhythms

I was particularly fascinated by Isaac Albéniz’s music, which is why I desired to devote my first CD to him, with my own arrangements of his music.
In these transcriptions, I have endeavored to stay as close to the original as possible in order to retain the original pieces’ complexity.

My selection stems from Albéniz’s most well-known cycles: Iberia (El Albaicín, Evocatión), Suite Española (Aragón, Asturias, Cádiz, Castilla, Cataluña, Cuba, Granada, Sevilla), and España (Capricho Catalán, Malagueña).

DEBÜT CD LAURA LOOTENS, guitar
ALBÉNIZ

Wer denkt bei spanischer Musik nicht sofort an Flamenco, an Bolero, den Pasodoble und vor allem
an Gitarren!

Der 1860 geborene spanische Komponist Isaac Albéniz war jedoch von Haus aus Pianist und schrieb
überwiegend für Klavier. Dabei gelang es ihm wie keinem anderem, die Idiome spanischer Volksund
Gitarrenmusik in seinen Werken zu adaptieren. So finden sich bei ihm beispielsweise Anklänge an
Rasgueados, eine aus dem Flamenco stammende perkussive Anschlagstechnik mehrerer Saiten.

Es verwundert daher nicht, wenn viele seiner Werke nicht nur auf dem Klavier, sondern auch auf
der Gitarre interpretiert werden. Ganz besonders gilt das für Asturias aus der Suite Española Nr. 1,
kaum ein klassischer Gitarrist, der es nicht in seinem Repertoire hat. Anders bei Stücken aus der
Iberia Suite. Nur wenige wagen sich an diese komplexe Komposition. Am ehesten kennen wir es
noch von Gitarren-Ensembles.

Nachdem ich mich in das Gitarrenspiel verliebt habe, wurde ich unweigerlich mit der Musik Spaniens
konfrontiert. Sie hat mich direkt in ihren Bann gezogen: Dieses Temperament, die Anmut und die unglaublich
schönen Melodien gepaart mit schwungvollen Rhythmen. Besonders Isaac Albéniz hat mich fasziniert,
weshalb ich ihm meine erste CD widmen möchte – mit meinen eigenen Bearbeitungen seiner Musik.

Es war mir bei meinen Transkriptionen wichtig, so nah wie möglich am Original zu bleiben, um die
Komplexität der Kompositionen zu erhalten. Die Stücke, für die ich mich entschieden habe, stammen
aus seinen wohl berühmtesten Werken, nämlich aus Iberia (El Albaicín, Evocatión), aus der
Suite Española (Aragón, Asturias, Cádiz, Castilla, Cataluña, Cuba, Granada, Sevilla) und aus España
(Capricho Catalán, Malagueña).

Artist(s)

Laura Lootens (guitar)

Laura Lootens was born in 1999 in Marktoberdorf (Bavaria). Her passion for the classical guitar was kindled when she took her very first guitar lesson at the age of eight. Ever since then, she has found artistic fulfillment by thrilling audiences with the infinite variety of sonorities the guitar offers.
In 2022, Laura won the First Prize at one of the most important guitar competitions worldwide: the Andrés Segovia Competition in Spain, where she was also awarded the Special Prize for the Best Interpretation of the Obligatory Piece. She scored a further success when the renowned German Music Competition selected her for a scholarship; on the same occasion, she was awarded the Special Prize of the German Musikleben Foundation.
When she was fourteen, Laura began her studies as a selected young student in Munich under the guidance of Professor Franz Halász while attending a secondary school specialized in the arts.
Only one year later, her acknowledged talent for classical guitar allowed her to enroll in Bachelor’s degree studies as one of the youngest students at the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts. At fifteen, she also gave her orchestral début with Joaquín Rodrigo’s renowned Concierto de Aranjuez. Laura obtained her Master’s degree cum laude, followed by an Excellence in Performance diploma, the equivalent of a doctorate.
In 2021, at the age of 22, Laura was selected among several competitors to occupy a teaching post at the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts.
Laura’s music has led her to perform in renowned classical music venues in Germany and abroad: at the Gasteig in Munich, the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, and the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam. She can also be heard and seen on radio and television broadcasts recorded by Bavarian Radio (Munich), by the German national ARD channel, and by Austrian public radio station Ö1.

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Composer(s)

Isaac Albéniz

Isaac Albéniz was a prominent Spanish pianist and composer. Albéniz was born in Camprodón and was soon recognised as a child prodigy. As a six year old, he received piano lessons from Antoine François Marmontel. After which he attended the conservatory of Madrid and continued to give concerts as a prodigy until he was 15 years old. In 1876, he studied in Leipzig for two months, but left when he received a royal grant to study at the conservatory of Brussels. In 1879, he graduated with honours and did a succesful concert tour around Europe. He wished to study under Liszt, for which he traveled to Budapest. Unfortunately, his travels were in vain: Liszt had already moved to Weimar.

Isaac Albéniz was a prominent Spanish pianist and composer. Albéniz was born in Camprodón and was soon recognised as a child prodigy. As a six year old, he received piano lessons from Antoine François Marmontel. After which he attended the conservatory of Madrid and continued to give concerts as a prodigy until he was 15 years old.
In 1876, he studied in Leipzig for two months, but left when he received a royal grant to study at the conservatory of Brussels. In 1879, he graduated with honours and did a succesful concert tour around Europe. He wished to study under Liszt, for which he traveled to Budapest. Unfortunately, his travels were in vain: Liszt had already moved to Weimar.

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